The Boy in Black
Closing (Theater and Galleries)
The Short List (Theater)

When: Wednesdays-Saturdays. Continues through Nov. 12 2011

I'm ambivalent about this theatrical fable. On the one hand, its sweet simplicity can be endearing. On the other, it cultivates a sort of mannered naivete that tends to turn simplicity . . . simplistic. Playwright Tony Meneses uses the visual spectrum as a metaphor for true love: people wear gray until they find their mate, at which point both lovers commit to a common color. There's a blue couple, a green one, and so on. The trouble with the title character is that he's love-color-blind, and that frustrates his efforts to connect. David Mitchell makes an engaging Boy in Black, and Emma Peterson's staging has a genial funkiness to it. But cutesy transitions get annoying fast and even undermine the scenes they connect. Meneses's ending wouldn't be out of place in a progressive children's book about diversity. --Tony Adler